Hidden Scars
by Hiei449
Summary: The Saiyuki gang are caught up in a strange and unusual town that seems too perfect. The mystery starts to unravel bit by bit and the gang makes some new allies. COMPLETE! may be redone
1. Default Chapter

Ok. I read some of the Saiyuki books and my mind went crazy with ideas. So here it is, yet another one of my weird, yet interesting, stories. Dunno what to call it yet so let me know if you have an interesting title for it. Let's just hope I can keep up on them better than my other ones.

Prologue

The town was like any other town during the day. People walking about minding their own business and going about daily chores: cooking dinner, shopping, visiting, or just playing with old friends. Children laughed as they played in the flowing river near by. Any one who looked up the small town would find that it was near perfect, but it was far from it.

Inside the town there was a large inn. It was a very nice inn that didn't cost too much to stay. The food was the best the town could offer and it had many different kinds of liquor and drinks that money could by. It seemed perfect. During the day it looked peaceful, but during the night was a completely different story. Though everyone loved the inn, but what baffled them was that only four servants works there, four young females who seemed almost emotionless to the people of the town.

The innkeeper assured thought that they were just young girls who wondered into his inn. He said that they had been that way from the beginning. They obeyed every order without complaint. But that was not the case. The inn of the nearly perfect town had a dark secret. It wasn't as perfect as everyone really thought it was. In fact it was the complete opposite.

"Man, where's this damn town at, Hakkai? I'm hungry!" Goku complained.

"Will you shut up!? You've been complaining for the past half hour!" Sanzo yelled back at him.

Hakkai chuckled. "We're almost there, Goku."

"Good. If I have to put up with the stupid monkey anymore today I might kill him," Genjyo voiced.

The four people in the jeep continued to bicker and argue as they continued down the road. Towards a town where the dark secret of the inn would not be so secret anymore.

OK, I know that sucked. The Saiyuki group really sucked as well but that's just because it was suppose to be a brief part of them.


	2. Chapter 1

Hey, didn't know I'd even get one review. I thought it sucked, but that's just me. I know the part was so short but it's just the prolog and not an actual chapter.

Falondyess- Thanks. Thought you'd like it! My mind was going on overload with ideas for Saiyuki after reading the first manga. I couldn't stop reading it!!! I read it like three times so far. It's so cool!! Already planning on buying the anime series!!

C.T.- Wow. Thanks. I know it was a bit short but I promise that I'll make the chapters much longer. Though it may take me some time to write them seeing as how I'm doing it in school during study hall hours or during a very boring class. But I definitely will take your suggestion for a title into consideration.

Devil-Angel- Hey, thanks. I'll be updating regularly. I usually wait till I have at least three reviews before putting up a new chapter. It's kinda slowed down some of my stories but oh well.

Thank you all for reviewing. Keep sending me suggestions for a new title. I hope to try and keep the characters as close to their personalities as I possibly can (Though I'm not very good at it sometimes). Anyway, here's chapter one.

Chapter 1

The sun was bright and beautiful, not a cloud in the sky nor any harsh winds from the cold mountains behind the small town. Everything seemed perfect as it usually did, well....almost. Most everyone paused in their daily work to stop and stare at the four men riding in the iron vehicle. None had ever seen anything like it come into the seemingly peaceful town.

Gojyo sat back looking around as Hakkai continued to drive down the dirt roads. They were mostly used to people stopping and staring, but they really didn't care much. Mostly they just ignored the stares and continued on with their business.

"Well, here it is. The Culture Inn as it's called," Hakkai said as they stopped in front of a large in. It was quite big and looked a little old fashioned. It looked more of an old Japanese styled inn with screen paper doors and bamboo floors.

"Hope they have good food here. I'm starving," Goku said as he jumped out of the jeep.

Hakkai chuckled as he got out as well: "Always thinking of food, Goku."

"Let's just get inside and get some rooms," Sanzo said. He was getting pretty annoyed having to stay in a jeep for days on end with the four youkai. Hakkai wasn't very bad to deal with, but Gojyo and Goku were a completely different story. The entire time they would bicker, fight, and complain. It gave him a major headache everyday. It was nice to finally have some rest for once.

They all headed inside but left Hakuryu in the jeep transformation. It would've been too suspicious if they had gone into town with the jeep and then have it suddenly disappear. The inside was about as nice as the outside looked. Not a crack in the floors and it looked as if it had just been cleaned. Low tables sat here and there with cushions and pillows scattered around them. More sliding doors lead to what seemed a kitchen and other lounging rooms. Goku could already smell the food coming from the kitchen. Everything seemed as though it was in the right place.

"I don't know about you guys, but this place seems just a bit too perfect," Gojyo said as he looked around the place.

"I don't care so long as I can get some sleep," Sanzo replied.

Hakkai was about to reply when a man of heavy stature walked in. He wore old-fashioned Japanese styled clothing usually worn for males. His hair was short and nearly balding. He had a huge grin on his face, but his eyes showed that of something different,

"Welcome, friends, to the Old Culture Inn, the finest inn in this town. Are you looked for a place to stay for the night?"

"Yes, we are. We would like-"

"Four singles bed rooms," Sanzo replied as he cut Hakkai off. Knowing Hakkai, he would've gotten two bed rooms, and there was no way in hell Sanzo was about to stay the night in a room with Gojyo or Goku, and putting them together in the same room would be suicide.

"Ah, very well then. Come, I'll have someone take you to your rooms. Hitachi!" the man called.

One set of sliding doors opening, showing a girl bowing down in the old fashioned way. The hair that was not put up spilled down onto the floor around her hands and was sunshine blond. She wore a Japanese styled kimono that had a high collar. It was a dark purple color with speaks of silver laced into it.

"Ah, there you are. Take these young men down to their rooms. They want one-bed rooms. Make sure they're close together, not like you did the last time. Understood?" the man said.

The woman gently sat up and nodded. Sanzo frowned at the woman. She looked about the age of 21 and there didn't seem to be a flaw with her, except one. Her eyes were the darkest of gray, but they held no life. There was no usual spark within the eyes as there usually was in normal eyes. It was like looking into the eyes of a dead person.

The woman slowly stood and walked over to them in her old wooden shoes. She slowly bowed to them before turning and walking down a hall that was located off to the side. She never said a word as she led them outside towards a few long buildings surrounded by gardens and fountains. She stopped next to a set of sliding screen doors and turned to them and bowed slightly.

Now, Goku frowned as well. The entire time she never said a word and walked a little slower than most people. Her eyes always looked ahead and nowhere else.

"Thank you," Hakkai said to her. She slowly stood then and walked past them back towards the main building. The guy's eyes followed her and watched as she walked back with no word or glance towards them or anything else.

Goku turned to Sanzo, "You getting a bad feeling about that girl as well?"

"Yeah, but it's not our business. Let's just get some rest before I kill someone." With that, Sanzo went into one of the four rooms that were given to them. The three remaining youkai stood there for a moment, contemplating this thought, before heading into their own rooms.

Later that day, the Hitachi came to their rooms and knocked on each of their doors. She never spoke a word as she lead them down back towards the main building and into one of the lounge areas where table setting had been arranged. She then disappeared behind another screen door, leaving them to sit down at the low table.

"Well isn't this nice?" Hakkai said as he looked around the nicely decorated room.

No one had any time to reply as the woman returned baring a tray filled with four glasses and a bottle of liquor, but she was not alone. Behind her came a younger girl, about the age of 15 or 16. Her black hair, like Hitachi, was half done up and she wore a similar kimono but it was white on top and melted into a deep amber color as it went down to the bottom. But like Hitachi, her eyes were a dead blue color. No spark was held in them and she seemed almost dead-like. Their wooden shoes clapped on the bamboo floor as Hitachi brought over the liquor and the other girl brought over a bit of food: seasoned cucumbers and sushi.

"Alright! Food!" Goku yelled before digging into the sushi. Gojyo started on the cucumbers. Sanzo turned to the two girls and nodded his thanks. Hakkai chuckled at the two youkai as they fought over the food.

It didn't take too long before the two girls returned with more food, but again they were not alone. Two more women followed. Hitachi set a large tray of food down in front of Sanzo while the other, younger, girl set a tray of food down for Goku. A woman of about the age of 22 set a tray of food down for Hakkai. Her long red-orange hair was completely done up with a few strands hanging down here and there with her bangs hanging down over her eyes. She wore a fire red kimono with black flames on the bottom. But her green eyes were also dead.

As was the other woman's amber eyes, who gently set down a plate of food in front of Gojyo. She wore a dark green kimono with white mixed into it here and there. Her black hair was done up with only her hangs hanging down. She looked about the age of 22 as well.

Gojyo smirked as he looked at the young women. "I'm startin to like this place. Four good looking women servin us dinner."

"I don't know about this. These girls seem a little strange," Hakkai replied at he looked at the four women. "They seem almost...emotionless."

"Yeah, you're right. But why though?" Goku asked.

Sanzo frowned at the women. The girls didn't seem to respond to their comments at all. Either they weren't listening, or something was wrong. That's when he noticed. Each girl wore limiters. Hitachi wore a set of golden earings that were no doubt limiters. The younger one wore one in the shape of a bracelet that fit snuggly on her wrist. The black haired 22 year-old wore a limiter in the form of an anklet. The redheaded one had hers on her right middle finger.

"So, how do you like the meal? Our girls are the best cooks in town!" the innkeeper said as he walked in behind the girls.

"It looks awsome!" Goku replied as he began to scarf down his food.

"Great! Nothing better for our customers. Eat as much as you like!" the man said as he laughed.

"Thank you very much. I was wondering though. Do you think that you could send one of these fine girls down to our friends room here," Hakkai asked as he motioned to Sanzo. Sanzo gave him a look that basically said "What the hell are you up to?" Hakkai smiled his mysterious smile before turning back to the innkeeper.

The innkeeper thought this over for a moment before grinning. "Of coarse I can do that for you! I will send one of these fine ladies to his room later tonight."

"Thank you," Hakkai replied with his smile still in place before he went back to eating. Something was wrong, and they were going to find out what exactly.

Ok, that kinda sucked. But it was longer as I promised!!! Hope yall like it! And Rita! I Know the characters aren't exactly how you put them but there's a reason for it I promise!

Now, click the little button and review so I can put up another chapter!!


	3. Chapter 2

Wow, more reviews. This is interesting. Well I finally decided to name it! No Flippin Clue will now be named……Hidden Scares…..I think…..well for now at least…maybe. Anyway, time to thank the reviewers!!

Rita- Yeah I kinda do need to slow down, and my grammar does suck, I know. I'll try to slow it down just a bit, I promise, but like I said my mind is going out of control with ideas.

Devil-Angel- Hehe, guess you found out my nickname. Well, thanks for the suggestions. I actually took a little of both of them and used them for the title now. I just might keep it too. Thanks! At least I got the personalities right.

Chapter 2

The dinner was very good. Smoked beef that was seasoned just right, fresh vegetables and fruits that were picked at the right time, and baked breads fresh out of the oven. Goku was quite satisfied with the dinner that the girls had made, which was sometimes hard to do. The others were also fairly satisfied. Whenever they finished one dish, one of the girls brought out another full plate. Soon, they were unable to eat anymore.

Now they were gathered around a table in Sanzo's room, playing a game of Mahjong while drinking some of their cans of beer and some of the liquor that was brought to their room. It was a clear night that night, with the stars shinning brightly and not a cloud to be seen. The moon was bright and full, and it was quite warm. No need for blankets that night.

"So, why exactly did you want one of the girls to come to Sanzo's room, Hakkai?" Goku asked. Hakkai hadn't said one word about why he had asked for one of the girls to be brought to Sanzo's room. Hell, they didn't even think the innkeeper knew, so long as he got his money out of it.

"There's something really wrong with them. The entire time we were talking they never responded to what we said. I want to take a bit of a closer look at one of them. We might be able to find out a bit more about this place," Hakkai responded as he took his turn.

"Well, I wouldn't mind one of them comin to my room," Gojyo said as he blew out the smoke from his cigarette.

"We know you wouldn't, Gojyo. Man, can't you ever think of anything other than sex?" Goku complained before getting a face full of cigarette smoke.

"Oh shut up, stupid monkey," Gojyo said with a lazy smirk. That started a bicker between the two. Somehow or another, those two always seemed to get into fights for some of the strangest things. It was like just seeing each other annoyed the hell out of them. Of coarse, hearing them fight all the time annoyed the hell out of Sanzo.

"Now now, you guys. Break it up already. We don't need to have to replace something if you end up destroying the room," Hakkai reasoned, though it had no effect on the two bickering youkai.

All four of them looked up as a soft knock came to the door. Sanzo stood and opened the screen door, looking at the visitor that had stopped Gojyo and Goku's constant annoyance. There stood the 22-year-old girl with the dark, black hair. She stood there looking up at him with her dead amber eyes, again never speaking a word. Sanzo gently took hold of her arm and brought her inside the room, shutting the screen door behind him after making sure no one was around.

Hakkai stood and went over to her looking her up and down. She seemed normal and didn't seem to have anything wrong with her, but with their travels they had learned that nothing is what it seems. He then noticed the anklet and then knelt down to look at it. "So, she's a youkai. She's got a limiter on her ankle."

"But that doesn't explain what's wrong with her. A limiter makes it so she can live among humans, but it doesn't make the person seem dead," Goku said as he looked at the girl.

Sanzo looked the woman over and then frowned at her neck. The collar of the kimono was high, but it didn't hide a tiny bit of what looked like paper on her neck. "Maybe not the limiter, but this sure as hell will." He went around to face the woman before reaching up and unbuttoning the top of her kimono.

"Sanzo! What are y-" Goku was cut off as he saw what Sanzo had seen. Gojyo frowned and sat up in his seat. Hakkai stood and frowned as well.

"Well, this explains it," Sanzo said as his gaze rested on the object around the woman's neck. Her kimono had been opened just enough to show the object but still give her some decency. The object looked like a paper charm sometimes used to control a reckless youkai. The charm was wrapped around the young girls neck and down far enough to be covered by the collar of the kimono.

"Why is that around her neck?" Goku asked. The woman didn't seem to be a reckless youkai. She seemed more like a nice girl, but looks at this moment could be deceiving.

"I'm not sure," Hakkai replied as he examined the charm. It was then that he saw something else that was on her body. A long scare could be seen trailing from beneath her left breast and traveling to hide under the kimono long her back. "Something's really off here. This scare looks recent. If she were a reckless youkai under control with the charm, then why would there be need of any harm?"

"Well, let's take the damn thing off and ask her ourselves," Gojyo voiced before getting up and reaching for the charm. He was taken by surprise when the charm repelled him, sending sparks of power at his hand.

"Seems we can't remove it. It keeps youkai from taking it off, making it fairly effective in keeping the youkai under control."

"Then how in the hell do we remove it?"

"WE don't," Hakkai stated as his gaze turned to Sanzo. Though the charm repelled youkai, it wouldn't repel humans, which Sanzo actually was.

Sanzo knew what Hakkai was thinking, and he wasn't so sure he liked it. "How do we know that this charm is keeping her from getting into trouble? She could be another youkai that crossed over to Gyumoah."

"We'll never know unless we see it for ourselves," Hakkai stated.

Sanzo sighed at this. Yet again, he was right. They would never know what kind of person this youkai was unless they removed the charm from her neck. "Fine. Gojyo, stand by the door; I don't want her getting loose. Goku, stay by the window. Hakkai, stay right here in case she tries anything."

The three youkai nodded and did as they were asked. Goku stood in front of the window, ready to take her down if need be. Gojyo stood in front of the screen door. He wasn't about to let anyone through. Hakkai took his place next to the youkai woman. She still did not respond to anything they did.

Sanzo looked at each of them and nodded. His gaze then went back to the youkai woman. He gently reached up and took hold of the charm. The charm did not repel him like it did Gojyo. Sanzo waited a moment before gently tearing the ends of the charm apart, wanting to keep it in tact case they needed to put it back on. What happened next he didn't expect.

The moment the charm was removed from her neck, the youkai's eyes widened and became a lively amber color, but filled with fear. She screamed and jumped back from Sanzo. Sanzo and Hakkai tried to grab her, but she dodged their hands screaming slightly in fear.

"Gojyo!" Hakkai yelled.

Gojyo quickly ran up and wrapped the woman in his arms, pulling her back to his chest. It was then that the screaming had stopped. The four men blinked at the woman. She was frozen not in fear, but in pain. Her head was leaned back a bit with her eyes wide and mouth open to a deaf scream. Her back was arched a bit off Gojyo.

Hakkai's frown deepened as this, as did the others'. "Gojyo, let her go."

Gojyo nodded and gently let her go. The youkai collapsed to the floor holding herself up by her hands. Hakkai drew near her slowly, so not to scare the woman. Her head was hung a bit and the hair that was down, fell over her face. Hakkai knelt behind her and gently pulled down the back of her kimono just enough to where he could see it. The sight that met their eyes wasn't what they expected. Burn marks, scares, whip lashes, and numerous cuts and bruises littered the woman's back. Here was all the proof they needed that something was indeed not right in this so called perfect town, and the source of it was in the inn.

Hehe, there it is. Chapter 2. Hope yall like it. Rita! I hope I slowed down enough for ya! Now, click that bluish purplish button!! I'll get the next chapter up soon as I can.


	4. Chapter 3

Wow, even more reviews. I'm surprised. Well I finally bought volume 2 of Saiyuki and I found it hilarious!! I'm reading it over and over again. After Christmas I plan to start collecting them and buy the anime series, in English if I can. Anyway, time to thank the reviewers!!

Devil-Angel- Thanks again for your help. Hope you like this chapter.

C.T.- The mystery is starting to unravel bit by bit. I know I need more powerful words, trying to get a thesaurus. Hehe, might take a little while.

Rita- Thanks, it's killing me with all these ideas runnin around in my head. Hehe. Hope you like this chapter.

Ok, now on to chapter 3!!

Chapter 3

The night air was warm as it swept through the halls of the inn. Every light was out in each room, except one. The sanzo gang was still gathered in Sanzo's room.

Hakkai took a rag and dipped it into the bowl of water on the stand beside the bed. He then gently wrung out the excess water that had gathered in it. He gathered one end of it and gently began cleaning one of the many cuts on the young youkai's back. She winced a bit, letting out the smallest of whimpers.

"I'm sorry. These cuts were not taken well car of. It will hurt a bit," Hakkai said as he continued to clean the cuts on her back.

They were able to calm her down long enough to have her lay down on Sanzo's bed on her stomach. She kept her arms tightly at her side with her hands curled into fists to tuck under her at her collarbone. Hakkai had takes the top of the kimono off to better examine the wounds. They weren't very bad but could have caused some amount of infection if they were left untreated any longer.

"So, what's your name?" Goku asked. After they calmed her down, he had taken a seat in the chair beside the bed. Gojyo sat on the floor across the room leaning his back against the wall. Sanzo stood just behind Hakkai looking down at the female youkai.

"K-Kirashi" the girl said. Obviously, she was uncertain of them.

"Well, Kirashi, can you tell us what happened? Why are you covered in scares and cuts and stuff?"

"I-I don't know. I can't...remember much. I know that every time I wake up we're all in darkness and all we can feel is the pain. We can't move either. Then we fall asleep and wake back up in the darkness again with even more pain," Kirashi said in the smallest of voices. She seemed confused of her surroundings and of what had happened.

"What about the other three youkai here? Do you know them?" Hakkai asked.

Kirashi nodded. "One of them is my sister, Hitachi. The red head is Maki and the last one is Julin. They're our friends. We were traveling together when we were attacked. Julin and Hitachi were injured. We had to come here to rest and heal. I remember waking up in the darkness and my back was in pain."

"Someone must've put the charms on them while they slept. I can see why since two of them were injured and all of them were tired," Sanzo said. The charm had been set on the stand next tot he water. "I guess that the charm also blocks their memories of anything that happened to them."

"How much ya wanna bet it's that damn innkeeper guy?" Gojyo said as he blew out the smoke from his cigarette.

"Probably. Gojyo, I don't think Kirashi would like it if you smoked in here," Hakkai stated.

"No, it's alright. I don't think I've had a cigarette since I got here. It's refreshing to smell the smoke," Kirashi said. The four men blinked a bit at her. Kirashi rolled her eyes slightly. "Yes, I smoke. Is it that unusual?"

"No, it's not unusual. We just didn't know that you smoked," Hakkai said with his usual smile.

"A good lookin woman who cooks and smokes. This is getting better and better," Gojyo stated with a smirk. He was starting to like this girl.

"Pervert kappa," Goku said. He was always thinking of nothing but women and sex. Even when the woman was in danger he'd try hitting on her.

"Oh shut up you stupid monkey. I can't help it if I get turned on by a woman who can make awesome cucumbers and smokes," Gojyo replied.

"And drinks." All eyes looked back at Kirashi. "Yes, I drink as well. I can hold my liquor pretty well."

"Damn! Now that's my kind of woman," Gojyo said as he sat up.

"Well, it seems that looks can be deceiving. You're a very interesting person, Kirashi," Hakkai said as he set the rag aside. "But those cuts will heal better now that they've been cleaned."

"Now the question is what do we do?" Goku asked. Somehow they knew those injuries were caused by the innkeeper.

"How well can you fight, Kirashi?" Sanzo asked.

"I can't fight that well right now. My flutes are gone," Kirashi said as she sat up and pulled her kimono back on.

"Flutes?" Hakkai asked. "Are you a manipulative illusionist?" Kirashi nodded.

"Manipulative illusionist? What's that?" Sanzo asked. He had heard the name from somewhere, but he never knew what it was.

"A manipulative illusionist is a youkai that can manipulate a person to do as he or she wishes using illusions. Kirashi for example can create illusions using the songs of flutes. Using certain combinations of flutes, she could even torture the person with his or her feelings and then kill them with those feelings," Hakkai explained. "What about the other youkai?"

"Maki is a flame maiden. She can manipulate fire and can cause a person to combust from the inside out. Julin is a songtress. Her singing can lure a person into a trap or can drive them to insanity. Hitachi is a sword energist. She uses a sword through which she channels energy into and it gives her a lot of power," Kirashi explained.

"I see. Hm, I think I have an idea that may help you and your friends,' Hakkai said with his usual smile.

Four sets of eyes blinked at him, not really knowing what kind of plan Hakkai was scheming.

Ooooo, Hakkai's got something planned. Wanna know what it is? Well click on the bluish purplish button down there and review!! The more reviews the faster I'll get it up!! And tell some fo your friends about my story and see what they think!!


	5. Chapter 4

Hehe, mysteries are so much fun, especially when the author is the only one who really knows what's going on the whole time. Hakkai's got a plan, wanna know what it is? Well then, read and find out, but first, a thanks to the reviewers!!

C.T.- It's alright that you left two reviews. I have people who do that sometimes, but I don't mind all that much. And yeah, I guess Kirashi would be suited for Gojyo. Well, if you want that to happen, then let me know in your next review! And thanks for the compliment towards my friend. She created Maki! Anyway, you'll see what a manipulative illusionist can do soon! Thanks for reviewing!

Devil-Angel- Thanks. Took a long time to figure out what to call her type of youkai. Rita helped me create the characters. Check out her stories! Her name is Star Blaze1. And I only own volume 2 right now. Volume 1 belongs to Rita. Waiting to get some money to get volume 3. Anyway, thanks for the review!

Ok, now on to the story!!

Chapter 4

Darkness clouded the halls of the quiet inn. Moonlight shone through the windows without a sound. Silence was all that was heard, except for the footsteps in the dark halls.

Hakkai hadn't told any of the guys exactly what his plan was. All they knew was that he had Sanzo replace the charm onto Kirashi's neck and dismissed her. But instead of just letting her go, he waited a few moments before following her. He knew that if she had seen them, she'd probably stop and bow till they asked her to do something.

They followed her down back towards the main building of the inn. Her eyes had become dead once more and she looked nowhere else but where she was going. She never strayed from her path. Sanzo and the others followed her making sure to keep out of sight. Kirashi rounded a corner and continued on down the hall before stopping at a small side table that was set against the wall in the hallway. There she stood waiting for something.

Hakkai looked around the corner and watched her.

"What is she doing?" Goku asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm not sure. Seems she's waiting for something," Hakkai replied in his own hushed voice. He continued to keep his eyes on Kirashi. She still stood waiting by the small table.

"What exactly is your plan, Hakkai?" Gojyo asked.

"Well, I knew that if they kept falling asleep but not remember anything even when we see them during the day, then something must be going on during the night. We're going to find out by following and find out where she goes during the night and why," Hakkai explained, his eyes never leaving Kirashi.

It didn't take long till before she was met with Maki. They stood side by side looking at the wall. After a few moments, Hitachi came and stood on the other side of Kirashi. Following their example was Julin. She came and took her place next to Maki. All four youkai stood there and waited for something.

"What are they doing? They're just staring at the wall," Goku asked. He was starting to get confused about why they would want to stand there and just stare at a blank wall.

Hakkai looked at Goku and was about to answer when he was interrupted by the sound of something scraping against the floor. All eyes turned to the girls. Hitachi had moved the small table aside and stood back up. She then took her place again beside Kirashi. Then, one by one the girls walked towards the wall, but instead of running into it, they went through it.

Goku blinked. "Wha…!?"

"How in the hell?" Gojyo asked. "What are they? Ghosts?"

"No, I think it's an illusion," Hakkai said as he stood. He slowly walked over and gently laid his hand on the wall. It was solid. He frowned slightly and starts to slide his hand towards where the girls had disappeared. It seemed solid enough, till the wall suddenly felt like air and his hand went right through it. "I see."

"What is it?" Sanzo asked as he came up behind the youkai.

"It would seem that someone has set up an illusion along this wall for some reason," Hakkai answered as he removed his hand from the illusion.

"Well then, let's go down there and find out what's so special about this area," Gojyo said as he walked over with Goku.

"It might not be a good idea to just barge in. We have no idea what's going on. If we're going to go in then we must be careful," Hakkai said.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go and find out what exactly happens to these girls," Gojyo said as he walked through the illusion wall. Goku quickly followed. Sanzo sighed and followed with Hakkai.

As the illusion wall fell away, the guys were met with a dark hallway that was barely lit up by the candles on the wall. A set of stairs led down the hallway towards the darkness at the end. The gang carefully made their way down the stairs, making sure to make as little noise as they could. The stairs led down to another hallway, lit poorly with the candles on the walls. The smell of old blood was in the air from down the hall.

"Man, this place reaks," Goku complained as he covered his nose.

"It does smell unpleasant, but we'll have to bare it if we want to unravel this little mystery we'd stumbled on," Hakkai said with his usual smile. He then started down the hall. The others followed his lead. No doors or windows could be seen, and not a sound was made. The smell continued to grow the farther they went down the hallway. It was then that they could see a Japanese screen door at the very end of the hall. Hanging next to the door on hooks were the girls kimonos. Their shoes were placed neatly on the floor and out of the way of the door.

"I don't like this you guys," Goku said. The smell had gotten pretty bad and was coming from behind the door.

"Well, it seems what we're looking for is behind that damn door. So let's go for it," Gojyo said as he opened the door. They were hit hard with smell of decay and blood. Gojyo instantly covered his nose. "Oh, man. That reeks."

"Gross!" Goku said as her covered his nose yet again.

"Come on," Sanzo said as he walked through the door. The others followed, trying their best to keep the smell from making them vomit.

The door lead to yet another hallway, but this one was made of stone instead of polished wood. No candles hung on the walls. At the end of one hall, a door was closed with a light burning behind it. The gang slowly made their way towards the door. Sanzo gently took a hold of the handle before pushing it open gently enough to look side the lit room. What met his eyes was not something he had expected.

Hehe, sorry! Had to give another cliffhangar. Suspense!! What is it Sanzo saw? Wanna know? Then click on the little button and leave a review! I'm already workin on chapter 5! So hurry and review so I can put it up as soon as possible!


	6. Chapter 5

Ok! Chapter 5! Wow, didn't know I'd make even this many chapters. Cool! Well, I still have my faithful reviewers! Thank you!

Devil-Angel- EEP! quickly hides I'm sorry!! Don't hurt me! But I gotta keep the suspense going! Here's the next chapter for ya!

I also wanted to put this chapter up because both my boyfriend and Rita kept buggin me to put it up! hides from Rita's poking So here it is. Chapter 5!

Chapter 5

The room was quite dark with only another door on the other side and a fire lit in the center of the room. No windows were present to air out the smell of the dripping blood. But Sanzo's gaze did not rest on the blazing fire, but more on the four young youkai suspending in the center of the room.

Strands of what looked like thread were wrapped around the youkai girls' necks, arms, and naked bodies, suspending them about a foot off the ground. They were hanging down around the blazing fire, their skin beginning to turn a slight red color from the heat of the flames. Scares, bruises, burns, and numerous cuts and gashes littered their backs and legs where they could easily be hidden by their kimonos. Around each of their necks were the paper charms. Their eyes were dead and they never made a sound as the thread cut into their skin, blood dripping from the thin strands and down their arms to puddle onto the floor below their feet.

Gojyo moved around Sanzo and looked into the room and gapped. "What the hell is this!?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't like it at all," Sanzo replied.

They all kept quiet as the door on the other side of the room opened. In came a dirty man carrying a whip at his side and a metal rod with a sharp point. He placed the end of the rod into the fire and left it there. Then he took four bowls that were stacked by the door and placed it under each of the girls, letting the dripping blood collect into the silver bowls. Sanzo and the others watched as the threads were tightened around the girls, letting more of their blood spill into the bowls. As this went on, the innkeeper came into the room through the same door that the man had come through.

"I knew it was him!" Gojyo said between gritted teeth. He never thought anyone would ever do anything like that to youkai, but then again, they had seem some pretty horrible shit on their journey.

"Quiet, Gojyo," Hakkai said quietly as they continued to watch.

The innkeeper made his way towards the dirty man. "How are they doing?"

The man bowed to the innkeeper. "Their wounds have mostly healed and their blood is right for the taking, sir."

"Good. Make sure you get enough this time. We wouldn't want our master to be disappointed like before. You know how he likes the taste of young female blood of a youkai," the innkeeper said as he watched the blood drip into the bowels.

"Yes, sir." The man took a hold of his whip and took his place behind Julin.

It was then that he began to lash the whip at her bare skin. Julin made no sound as the whip cut into her skin and let more of her life-blood spill into the silver bowl like wine. The gang watched in slight horror and disgust at this continued for each of the girls until each bowl was filled. The man then took the metal pole, end bright red from the flames, and ran it along each of the girls more serious wounds. Again, none of them cried out or moved away. The innkeeper and the dirty man each took two of the filled bowls and walked back out of the room. Once the door was shut, the flames in the center of the room went out. Four screams of utter pain cried out from the room at that point.

"Come on! We gotta get them down!" Goku yelled.

All four men quickly burst through the door. The flames at the center of the room quickly lit back up once they had set foot into the room. Each of the girls were crying and withering in pain, still suspending from the threads. Blood stained their naked bodies and hair red. Around their necks and at their feet were the ashes of what remained on the paper charms.

Sanzo turned to the three youkai. "Everyone grab a girl and get them down." The three youkai nodded before quickly running over to the youkai women.

Each of the guys used their weapons and tactics to cut away the threads from the youkai women's bodies. But even through their efforts, they weren't able to cause the women some amount of pain as they brushed against the newly made wounds while helping them.

Gojyo held Kirashi gently. "Kirashi. Are you alright?"

Kirashi winced as she looked up at him and motioned him to lean forward. Gojyo blinked slightly before leaning down to hear her. He yelped as she grabbed a fist full of scarlet hair and yanked him down. She then screamed loudly into his ear, "That fucking hurt!!!" Gojyo yelled and quickly pulled back with a hand to his ear.

Hakkai chuckled at this. "It would seem that looks are very deceiving. Come on. Let's get them out of here and cleaned up. We'll take them up to the baths." With that, Hakkai gently picked Maki up and stood. Goku gently helped Julin up trying his best not to hurt her any more. Sanzo picked up an objective Hitachi while Gojyo reluctantly helped Kirashi. They each took the girls back out of the room and down the hall that they had come in from. They stopped only to grab the girls' clothes.

The bath room was nice and steamy. No one was around at this time of night since everyone was sleeping. The water was warm as the guys stripped themselves of their clothes, except their pants, and stepped into the baths, gently setting the girls into the water. Dirt and grime began to slowly come off their skin as the guys helped them to wash their damaged bodies. The girls didn't seem to care so long as they were getting a warm bath and were able to clean their wounds.

Hitachi had given up on fighting Sanzo back and just laid there, letting him wash away all the sweat and dirt that stubbornly stuck to her skin. Sanzo, however, was not in such a relaxed state. Though the four youkai were mere women, they had a fairly good amount of strength in them. He could tell as he washed Hitachi's arms and felt hard muscles move beneath the skin as though they were ready to tense and attack. Her hands were rough, probably by the handling of her sword most likely. They had no idea whether these four youkai would turn against them, or if they were already affected by the wave. Yet, he didn't understand exactly why he was helping them.

He paused in washing the grime of Hitachi's body to think about that. Why was he helping them? Why did he even bother to inspect this? Hell, he was even getting wet to hold Hitachi's head above the water and clean her body. What use were they to him? Yes, he would admit that they had some strength, but how would they help him? He continued to clean Hitachi's wounds, frowning in thought.

"What's your problem?" Sanzo blinked a bit and looks at Hitachi. Her golden eyes looked back at him with distrust. That was understandable since this was the first time they had met that she could actually remember. She didn't even know his name.

"None of your business," Sanzo said as he went back to helping her.

"Ow! Damn it!" Everyone's eyes turned to Gojyo and Kirashi. Gojyo was holding his head glaring at Kirashi. In her hand, Kirashi help a bowl from off to the side of the bath.

"Don't touch me there!" Kirashi yelled.

"Gojyo! You perverted kappa!" Goku yelled.

"Oh shut up, stupid monkey!" Gojyo yelled back as he rubbed his head.

Julin and Maki both blinked at each other before laughing. Hitachi shook her head at the two bickering youkai. Hakkai started to try and reason with the two as they began to fight. Kirashi moved out from between Gojyo and Goku. Sanzo just sighed as the bickering got worse. It didn't take long before Goku slipped and fell into the water, taking Gojyo with him. Them landing into the water made such a splash that everyone got soaked.

Sanzo growled as water dripped from his hair. He quickly went over and shoved both Gojyo and Goku under the water. "Just die!"

The whole time, the four youkai women watched them. They all looked at each other before falling into fits of laughter. Sanzo looked back at the laughing youkai. He was still confused with why they helped him. He thought that it might be a small bit in part with what the Sanbutsushin said about seeing with the eyes on his heart. Who knows?

Ok. That's chapter 5! Hope you like it!! If you wanna see some couples, let me know in your reviews! Can't do it unless you review! Already started in chapter 6!


	7. Chapter 6

Wow, we have a new reviewer! Hehe!! Well, I finally got through psychology. Yes!!! So now I'll have more time to type up the chapters to my story! Well, here's a thanks to my faithful reviewers and our new one too!!

Devil-Angel- Yeah, that would hurt a lot huh? Don't worry though! Cause it's the Sanzo gang to the rescue!! Hehe!!

C.T. Saiyukily Twisted- (that's a hard name to spell) Yeah, the 'master' is a youkai. Here! I'll give you this so you can hit him when he appears! hands C.T. Saiyukily Twisted a flaming baseball bat There ya go!! Have fun beatin the crap out of him! And I hope this story is one of the particular stories where you can stand a GokuOC and SanzoOC.

Boomer0X- Thanks! Glad you like it! Hope you'll become one of the faithful reviewers of this story!

Alright!! On with the chapter!! More of this story is going to unravel!!

Chapter 6

Sanzo and the others were lounging around in Sanzo's room again. They had changed into a spare pair of pants, letting their soaked pants hang over the windowsill to dry. They had set up a game of Mahjong and were drinking a few cans of beer from their stash in their bag. They had playing their game as they waited for the girls.

After the bath situation, the girls had refused to wear their kimonos, finding clothing like that unbearable to walk in. And they also found wearing dresses of any kind completely wrong for them. According to Hitachi, they wouldn't be caught in their right minds wearing clothes like that. So, the guys loaned them a set of clothes for them to wear. They knew the clothes would be too big, but oversized clothes were better than none at all…well, not in Gojyo's opinion.

"So, anyone got any clue as to what exactly is going on around here?" Goku asked and he took a tile.

"Not a clue," Gojyo replied, taking a drag of his lit cigarette.

"And the girls don't remember a thing, so that doesn't do us any good," Hakkai said as he sipped a bit of tea that was made.

"There's obviously something wrong here, and it might have something to do with Kougaiji," Saizo said as he lit his own cigarette.

All four looked up as the door to the room opened. Even Hakkai couldn't keep a somewhat shocked look from his face. Gojyo had dropped his cigarette and just stared. Goku had sat up and his eyes were wide. Sanzo had taken a big too big of a drag of smoke. Hakkai had to set his cup down and couldn't help but stare a bit.

There stood the girls in the clothes they had loaned them. Maki stood in a set of pants that hung off one of her hips slightly with a loose t-shirt. She had taken the string from the kimono and wrapped it around her hair, forming a hair tie at the very base of her neck. Julin wore a pair of Goku's pants that hung quite low as did his tank top, which hung a bit snuggly around the chest area. Her hair had been braided into two pigtails in the back with her bangs hanging a bit wildly in her eyes. Kirashi wore a pair of loose pants that Gojyo would sometimes train in. They also hung quite low, and the tank top hung enough to where just enough cleavage showed. Her hair was combed and flowed freely in any way it chose. Hitachi wore a pair of Sanzo's jeans that fit alright for her. She also wore a t-shirt and her hair and been pulled up into a high ponytail with a single strand on either side to frame her face.

Even though the girls were dressed in a lazier look, they were still able to have the guys stare. Hitachi, however, hated staring.

"What?"

Hakkai blinked a bit. "Oh, sorry. Would you girls like any tea?"

"I'll take some," Maki said as she sat down in a chair next to Hakkai. She seemed for of the fun yet quiet and polite type. She had a small smile on her face as she accepted the tea from Hakkai.

Kirashi had settled on sitting at the foot of the bed propping one foot up onto the bed and letting the other hang. Kirashi seemed more of the type of person who "goes with the flow" and doesn't care what people think. Julin, for some odd reason, sat on the floor next to where Kirashi sat. Julin seemed more of the outgoing type that did as she pleased and ignored what others said about her. Hitachi, on the other hand, took her place leaning against the wall near the window and just stared out at the sky. Hitachi seemed more fit to be the leader type of person who rarely followed anyone and didn't like to put up with other people's crap.

With four completely different people with four different personalities, it was a wonder as to how and why these girls were together. It would seem more like they'd want to kill each other rather than fight along side one another, but then again, Sanzo and the others also fought together when they too were totally different people. They annoyed the hell out of each other, but they still had each other's backs when they needed it most.

"Hey, is there any food? I'm hungry," Julin suddenly spoke up.

Kirashi blinked and then laughed. "Always thinking of your stomach first, huh Julin? Though, I'm kinda hungry too. Who's turn was it to hunt anyway?"

"Uh…" Maki said as she looked at the ceiling in thought. "Hitachi's, I think."

"Turn to hunt?" Gojyo asked. It was like the girls had been picking up where they had left off on their own journey. It was almost like the whole controlling incident never happened.

"Yeah. We save our money for shelter and hunter and gather our food. We usually find some pretty good things wherever we go. And each area has something different. Like this one place had these berries that were the size of my fist, but they tasted real nasty raw. When you cooked them, they tasted like different types of meat depending on which color you took. They were really cool," Julin said.

"It would seem that you four have been in quite a few places," Hakkai said as he poured himself another cup of hot tea.

"Yeah, we've been traveling for about 6 years now…well, not including however long we've been here that is," Julin replied.

"Six years!?" Goku yelled as his gaze settled on her.

"You four have traveled for six years?" Hakkai asked. It was strange that four youkai would travel around the world for an entire six years and all still be in one piece. Maybe that would explain why they got along so well instead of annoying the hell out of one another like Gojyo and Goku do.

"Yeah. None of us really have any home to go to so we just travel around the countries and see what we find. We've found some pretty neat things too! I just can't find them cause I have clue where our bags are," Julin said as she looked around a bit as though she'd find the missing cargo.

"Where are you headed?" Gojyo asked. His curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Hm…" Maki looked up at the ceiling in thought again and then smiled. "Dunno."

The next thing that was heard was a loud thud as Gojyo and Goku both fell on the floor. "What!?"

Julin blinked a bit as did Kirashi. Maki just sweatdropped slightly. "Well, we don't have a destination really. We basically just make it up as we go. If we come to a village than we stop for a time and then move on to the next village, bringing the culture of the pervious village with us. We also do a lot of trading. We have beads, silk, clay pots, clothes and a lot of other things from the more suburban villages."

"I see. Interesting," Hakkai said as he thought of this.

"Come to think of it, where are our horses?" Kirashi asked.

"Good question. I'd like to find out that as well," Julin said.

Maki was about to reply when a very loud and bone chilling scream ripped through the area. It sounded like the cry of anger meant to put fear into those who heard it. It sent shivers up Maki's spine. Hitachi instantly tensed at the sound while Julin made a small sound before clutching Kirashi's leg.

Sanzo frowned and stepped outside the room and looked around. No one was in the halls of the building. He looked up as another cry sounded. "It sounds like it's coming from the main building."

"Someone's probably realized that they're gone," Gojyo said.

"You girls will have to stay here," Hakkai said as he and the others stood.

"Like hell we're staying here! I wanna get the bastard who did this to us!" Kirashi yelled.

"Just stay here already! You can't fight without your weapons anyway," Gojyo said as they walked out.

"Please, just stay here. It'll be much safer," Hakkai said as he too walked out, shutting the screen door behind him.

Kirashi, Maki, and Julin all looked at each other before turning to Hitachi, who still stood looking out the window.

Ok, that's chapter 6! You'll be able to see the 'master' soon!! I promise!! I've got more bats for anyone else who wants to take a swing at him!! Review and I'll put the next chapter up soon!!


	8. Chapter 7

Hey, I'm doin better than I thought I would. Cool! This is gonna be a tough chapter to write since I'm a bit no good at writing battle scenes. Hehe. But I'll do my best on this one! I promise! And if it sucks you can flame it! But just this once.

Devil-Angel- Eep!! Don't hurt me!! I do it for the suspense!! -hides-

C.T. Saiyukily Twisted- Ok, just wanna clear your questions up. No, they don't have a credit card like Sanzo, cause if they did it would've been maxed out by now with buying things. Hehe. For supplies, they hunt and gather their own food and make sure they have plenty with them till they get to another village. For medical supplies or anything like that, they trade with the villagers. Also, when they stop at villages, they pick up on herbal medications and things like that. Since they've been doing it for so long, they've learned quite a few remedies from a lot of villages. Any other supplies they need, they either do with what they have or trade some of their things for what they need. All of this will most likely be explained along the story. Hope that clears it up a bit!! And I know what you mean! I'm addicted to yaoi stories!! I like GojyoxHakkai ones!! You're gonna be dangerous with that bat -hides again-

Fiona- Hey, another reviewer to welcome to our reviewing family! I'm glad you like the story and hope to see you reviewing again! Makes me so happy when I get new reviewers!!

Rita- Yeah, I do need a beta reader, but it's hard to get one when you're typing this in school during an empty study hall. I was trying to slow down but it gets a bit hard when you got ideas runnin around in your head for so long. Oh! By the way! I'm gonna need your help on this story a bit, and when are we gonna update our original? I just kinda remembered about that off the top of my head. Hehe!

Wow, that took almost a full page. Anyway, many thanks to all my reviewers who like this story! Haven't gotten a flame yet! -knocks on wood- Superstition, I know. Anyway, time for the awaited chapter!! Here it is!!

Chapter 7

The halls again were dark, but somehow they didn't feel right. This time, they felt cold and dangerous, like a graveyard. Night was still present, making it a little hard to see. Everything in the halls was still and quiet, making the smallest sound seem like the banging of a drum. After the second cry had rung out, it seemed as though everything was frozen in fear.

Sanzo and the others walked quietly down the hall, trying their best to stay quiet. Every now and then, they'd hear a small sound, but it would turn out to only be a mouse or some other type of animal that was walking around in the night. They cautiously followed Sanzo as he made his way back towards the illusion doorway. The table had been knocked over, the glass vase shattered to pieces across the hardwood floor.

"Well, looks like someone got pissed comin outta there," Gojyo said.

"It would seem so," Hakkai replied as he looked around. There wasn't anyone in sight.

"Were they comin out or goin in?" Sanzo asked more to himself than anyone. He stepped over the mess of glass and walked through the illusion wall. Hakkai and the others followed suit. And down the dark hall they went again.

Meanwhile, the halls of the other building were just as quiet. Doors were closed for the night. All except one door, which slid open quietly before a black haired head poked out of the room.

Julin looked around the dark halls for any signs of people. "Clear," she whispered before stepping quietly out of the room. Following her was Hitachi and the other two youkai.

"I'm not so sure about this, Hitachi. Are you sure this is such a good idea? They did tell us to stay here," Maki whispered as she too looked around.

"Since when do we take orders from anyone?" Hitachi replied in a matter of fact tone.

"…She's got a point, Maki. Besides, I'd like my flutes back," Kirashi stated, keeping her voice hushed.

"Come on," Hitachi said as she led her group down the quiet halls towards the main building.

The halls of the tunnel were just as dark as the first time they went down them, but the stench had gotten even worse. The candles on the walls had been extinguished, leaving Sanzo and the others with little light to see by. It took longer than it did the first time to finally reach the door at the end of the hallway, but unlike the first time, the door had been torn and splintered. Someone had been in a destructive hurry to get in or out of this place.

Sanzo pushed the door aside and walked down the hall, the others followed suit. They walked till they reached the same door where they first witnessed the torture of Hitachi and the others. Sanzo gently pushed open the door and stepped inside the room. The flames roared to life again, lighting the dark room. Blood still stained the ground where the girls had hung, but fresh blood had been spilled. On the ground lay the dirty man who had been the one to collect the blood, but he was now the way the guys had last seen him.

Towards the left was his arm while the other arm was clear across the room. His legs were also far apart with a foot hanging from one of the posts. His lay was hanging by the hair from the ceiling, his face still held that of pain. His eyes were rolled to the back of his skull, no longer able to see again. His body had basically been torn apart limb from dirty limb.

"Ok, that's just sick," Goku said as he made a face of complete disgust.

"For once, I agree," Gojyo replied with a similar expression.

Sanzo frowned at the scene before looking past it towards the closed door across the room. What was behind that? What could possibly be back there that would drink the blood of youkai and kill humans this brutally? He began to walk towards the door, meaning to find the answers he sought. Hakkai and the others followed him, also curious as to what lay behind the door. Sanzo took hold of the handle and pushed open the door.

Hitachi walked down the halls of the main building. She knew what she was looking for, she just didn't know where to find it. Maki and the others were following her. Hitachi stopped and opens the door to a room, finding it wasn't the one she was looking for, before moving on.

"Hitachi, where exactly are we going?" Julin asked.

Hitachi didn't answer and opens the door to another room and moving on down the hall. Julin pouted slightly. She hated it when Hitachi did this. She'd be so set on finding something that she wouldn't reply to any of their questions or even acknowledge that they were even there. It annoyed her to no end.

Hitachi continued to open each door they came across and looks inside the rooms. It had to be here somewhere. She'd know it was there when she'd feel a certain tug in her mind that would tell her she'd found it. She opened yet another door, thinking that it would still be the right one, when she felt that tug. One that said her belongings where held within the room. She stopped and stepping into the small room and looked around.

The room held a small low table with piles of papers and books stacked high on top of it. A bookshelf stood off to the right, lined with books and stacks of more papers. The curtains were drawn, making the room somewhat dark. A dark oak chest was set up against the wall beside the door, the drawers of it locked shut.

Even though Hitachi couldn't see what it was she was looking for, she knew it was here. She stepped into the dark room with the others and walked around, looking for where the tug pulled the strongest. She ran her hand along the desk and on the bookshelves, finding no presence of her missing item. It was when she ran her hand along the chest that she felt it. A very strong tug saying that what she was looking for was locked in the chest.

Hitachi turned to the other three youkai. "Look around for the key." The other three nodded and began to help Hitachi now search for the key. They looked high and low around the room: under the desk, in the drawers, on top of the bookshelf and even between the books. No sign of the key to the chest. It wasn't until Maki had moved the painting on the wall that she found it. A small gold key that hung on a small nail behind the painting of the mountains.

"Here it is!" she said before tossing the small item to Hitachi. Hitachi caught it and quickly went back over to the chest. The other three gathered around her as she used the key on the chest. The lock released with a small click, allowing Hitachi to lift the heavy lid. Her eyes brightened as she found exactly what she was looking for.

Hehe, sorry!! Gotta do another cliffy!! Don't hurt me!! -hides- What's in the chest? What's behind the door? All of these questions will be answered in the next chapter!! So review!! The more reviews, the faster the next chapter will go up!!


	9. Chapter 8

Christmas break is over!! Wha!!!!!! No fair!!!! I only got a week off of school because my school sucks ass!!!!!!!! Wha!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, time to thank reviewers!!!!!!

C.T. Saiyukily Twisted- I know I said he'd be coming out in the next chapter, but I thought I'd put him in this one instead. Sorry!! He will be in this one though and you can take a swing at him!! And if you need a new bat I got more!!

Devil Angel- Here's the chapter to answer all your questions!!! Can't spoil it!! Sorry!!

By the way, sorry it took so long for me to put this chapter up but it was typed up in the school computers so I couldn't post it!! Sorry!! But it's up now, and I'm working on the next chapter!! Hope you like this one!!

Chapter 8

The flames still roared brightly behind Sanzo and the others but did nothing to brighten the room behind the door. The smell of old blood and rotting flesh became even stronger when the door was opened. Goku had to cover his nose to try and block out the stench.

"Well, now we know where that smell is coming from, but what's causing it?" Gojyo asked as he looked around the darkened room.

"Let's find out," Sanzo said as he stepped into the room, gun in hand. Unlike the first room, no flames roared to life to lighten the area. Gojyo followed him with the others pulling out his shakujou staff while Goku grasped his Nyoi-Bo. None of them had any idea as to what type of creature lay in the confines of the room. They walked carefully into the room, their only light source being that of the flames that were lit from the outside, which soon went out the moment they stepped out of the room, leaving them in darkness. What they didn't suspect was to be watched by a pair of dark red eyes.

Goku looked around, trying to see anything. What he didn't expect was to fall flat on his face from tripping over something. "Ow! What the…?" He looked around to find what it was he tripped on. He felt along the floor for the object, and his hand came in contact with something hard and around. He lifted it to his eyes for a better look before paling slightly. In his hand lay the skull of some unfortunate youkai. The skull was missing its lower jaw and the back had a hole in it the size of his fist.

Cool satin cloth slipped over bare skin as Hitachi got dressed into her own clothes. In the chest they found all of their bags lying on the bottom. On the lid of the chest, Hitachi's sword and Kirashi's flutes were attached to the back fabric like a display. Each of the girls had grabbed their bags and gotten dressed in their normal clothes.

Hitachi wore a satin shirt given to her from the last village they had visited. It was an off white color with very small, light blue beads sewn around the color in an elegant yet simple design that looped elegantly at the very base of the V-neck. Her pants were loose and comfortable, made of the same fabric with the same type of beading leading down the side of the legs. On her feet she wore a pair of comfortable sandals that laced up her legs only a little bit. Around her neck was a necklace made of a leather strap and a stone-carved charm hanging from it, given to her by one of the village women.

Kirashi preferred to wear her baggy jeans that hung low on her hips and had jean chains hanging from it, different charms from the villages clasped on the chains. She wore a shirt made of leather that came from one of the first villages they had stayed at. It looked more of a vest than anything and only buttoned in the center of her chest, leaving her upper chest and stomach bare to the world. On her feet, she wore a pair of black leather boots with a two-inch heel on them. How she could fight in them, no one understood. Her hair flowed freely as usual. Around her neck was a black choker that had a metal symbol on it. At the moment, she was placing each of her flutes in their rightfully hidden places among her body and clothes.

Maki wore what looked like a long skirt, but was actually a pair of loose, flowing pants that were the color of the setting sun. Her shirt was the same color. It clung tightly to her body, but the long sleeves were only tight down to her elbow. From there, they flared out to be just as flowing as the pants. She had replaced the kimono string with her usual hair tie, but she also wore a sunset red headband to help keep her wild bangs out of her face. She wore a pair of red slip-on shoes that were just as comfortable as her clothes. She also wore a necklace about her neck that was given to her from one of the children in the villages. It was made of fine turquoise beads that were placed at every inch of the necklace.

Julin preferred more of the cute look than anything. She wore a flowing white skirt that reached her mid-thigh and had beads lining the bottom. She wore a white shirt with a folding collar that had 3/4 length sleeves. Over that, she wore a black vest that had no buttons and just slipped on over the white shirt. The collar of the shirt was laid flat against her body, leaving her upper chest and neck bare. Black leather boots that reached just below her knee were on her feet, but these boots didn't have a two-inch heel. On the ends of her braids, she had put a ribbon that hung down from each of them. On her upper chest lay a sword charm hanging down from the chain around her neck, handed down to her years ago by village men.

Each of the girls grabbed their bags, glad to have their rightful belongings back again. They were even happier to be back into their own clothes. Though the clothes the guys had given them were comfortable, they preferred clothes that actually fit and were more to their own tastes. What none of them noticed was the person hidden within the shadows, watching them with eyes fit to kill.

Goku yelped and tossed the skull away. Bones of both human and youkai lay scattered on the floor of the dark room. Shreds of old flesh and muscle lay on the ground, clinging to some of the bones they had been torn from. Swords and weapons lay shattered or splintered among the bones, showing that there was at least some battle between the creature and the unfortunate beings, the creature obviously winning.

"This ain't no bedroom that's for sure. This is a freakin graveyard," Gojyo said as he picked up one of the skulls on the ground, one being of human kind.

Hakkai knelt down and looked at the bones. "From the looks of these, I'd say most of these people were females. There are some males here, but they're mostly all females."

"Now how in the hell can you tell that?" Gojyo said as he looked at the bones. There were no signs of flesh or of any clothes that would suggest these bones were from women.

"The pelvis size mostly. Women's pelvises are larger than males because they are the ones who bare children," Hakkai explained.

"So because the pelvises are bigger, they're females? Damn," Gojyo said, scratching the back of his head in thought. He never thought that women and men would have different sized bones, just that they had different body parts.

"The question isn't whether they're female or male. The question is," Sanzo said as he looked at the bones, "what killed them?"

Goku wasn't paying too much attention to what the others were saying. He was too busy exploring the room. He swore he could've heard something coming from somewhere, but what and where he couldn't say. He looked around, avoiding some of the bones that lay scattered mostly on that side. Something was in there with them. Something really bad.

A pair of glowing red eyes watched as Goku circled around one of the columns in the room. The creature watched him with hunger. Though the blood of the female youkai was good, it wasn't enough to satisfy her hunger for food. She had the keeper of the inn under her control, luring in un-expecting youkai and humans into her lair to feed upon. But these four had wondered in on their own. She had to be careful though. These four seemed dangerous. She would have to pick them one by one and separate them from each other before killing them. She would pick apart one or two of them, but leave the rest to her nest of eggs that slept quietly in the shadows, ready to hatch any day. She would feed them the bodies, letting them have their first taste of flesh before releasing them onto the village to feed on their own.

She had to do it swiftly, without alarming them. The innkeeper could handle the four youkai who escaped. She slowly crept down the column behind Goku, making sure to stay to the shadows so that he wouldn't see. The other three were too busy talking about the bones. Lovely set of souvenirs, aren't they? She was determined to add these four to her collection.

"Come on. If we leave now, we can go and get those bastards back for what they did to us," Hitachi said. Each of the other three youkai could tell that she was pissed at the innkeeper. They couldn't blame her either. They were pretty pissed themselves at what they did to them.

"Yeah, let's beat them into the ground!" Julin yelled with excitement. It had been a while since they had a real good fight. Most of the youkai that they ever fought were weak and died within only ten minutes of the battle, which made it quite boring.

"Yeah, I'm ready for some ass kickin," Kirashi said. She was always ready for a good fight now and then. Mostly she just loved to use her flutes and watch with amusement as enemy fell into the trap.

"Alright, then let's go," Maki said with a smile. No one really knew about her. Usually if there was a fight, she'd join in with a smile. It was strange, how even though she seemed polite and nice, she could turn into one mean ass bitch in less time than it takes to blink.

"Let's hurry," Hitachi said as she started to quickly run out. She stopped suddenly as a dagger landed on the floor in front of her. She paused and looked around the room. "Show yourself!"

A small laugh echoed through the room, making it nearly impossible to find out exactly which direction it was coming from. Their eyes were then turned towards the shadows as they sound stopped echoing to center on one source. The innkeeper slowly stepped from the shadows, but he was completely different. He skin was paste white and barely clinging to his bones. His eyes were gone and his teeth were rotted to the core. Instead of looking like a plump, cheery man, he looked like a walking corpse.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave here. You see, master is feeding and will probably need more food," the innkeeper said through this laughter.

"I'm not gonna get eaten by anyone! If you wanna fight, then bring it on you old man!" Kirashi yelled as she dropped her bag onto the floor.

"Kirashi! Wait!" Hitachi yelled, but it was too late. Her sister had already started to run towards the innkeeper, fists raised and ready to pound him. She never made it though. As soon as she was within arms reach of him, the innkeeper grabbed her wrist in an iron grip and lifted her off the ground. The others watched in horror as the innkeeper flipped Kirashi lover and slammed her onto the hard ground. Kirashi winced at the pain that shot through her body.

The innkeeper laughed once more as he stood. "You wont be leaving here anytime soon I'm afraid."

Hitachi glared at him. This was going to be harder than she thought it would be. But then again, she didn't think it was going to be so easy to get out either. Well, at least now they'll have some fun.

Goku looked around as he walked farther into the darkness, making sure he was still in sights view of the others. He could feel that there was something here. He just couldn't tell what or where it was. It was then that he felt it. Something laying on his shoulder. When he looked at his shoulder, he saw nothing at first. After a moment, he saw it. The thinnest of threads similar to the ones that were used on the girls to hold them up. Goku gently lift the fine thread and felt it. It was sticky and hard to get off his fingers, similar to that of a…

"Well, obviously something has been in here for some time to be able to eat this many people," Hakkai said as he stood back up.

"Yeah, but what and where is it?" Gojyo said. No one had time to reply. Their heads snapped up at the sound of Goku's yell.

"Goku!" Hakkai yelled. Sanzo quickly ran in the direction of the yell, Hakkai and Gojyo at his heels. Once they turned the corner, they found Goku half sitting half laying on the ground.

"Goku! What happened!?" Gojyo said as the three gathered around him.

Goku swallowed a bit and pointed up towards the top of one of the columns. "That!" The others looked up in the direction he was pointing and stared.

There, perched high on the ceiling was the biggest spider they had ever seen. Its long legs were covered in hair, and its eight eyes were crimson red. The body was huge and black with a dark red belly and a red stripe down the back. Its mouth was open and looked ready to devour them whole. A long trail of sticky thread hung down behind it, more of the bones tangled within it along with partically decomposed bodies of young women.

"That is disgusting!" Gojyo yelled as he looked at the bodies of the women. "How can someone do that to such delicate beauties!?"

"Ok, I think we have some problems now," Hakkai said as he looked at the creature. At least this explains all the bones.

Wow, this chapter is longer than the rest of them. Five pages long!! And that doesn't include the response to the reviews and this part. Wow. Anyway, there she is!! The disgusting 'master' for ya! Hope you like it! I know it sucked though!


	10. Chapter 9

I'm getting pretty far on this story. Didn't really think I would. Cool!!!!!!!! Well, there's not much left to go really, sorry to say! I'm debating whether to make this story part of a series, make a sequel, or just leave it at that. Whichever one I use will decide what the end to the story will be. You all tell me: series, sequel, or none? Let me know in your reviews, and I can get started on it right after I finish this one!! Time to thank reviewers!!

Devil-Angel- Yeah, I hate spiders too! They're big and nasty and -shudders- gross!!! Sorry about the whole partially decomposed bodies part!! It just made it seem more scary and creepy and stuff!! I'm glad you liked the chapter though!! And yeah, their clothes do work well with them don't they? !!!

C.T Saiyukily Twisted- Yeah, maybe I should've spent less time on the clothes. Hm…anyway, I find time to do this because my college lasses are done so I have way too many study halls. I used a female because then it would describe the reason for doing all this to the people: her nest of eggs. I didn't really get the inspiration from Harry Potter, more or less from thinking of something creepy that eats flesh.

Chapter 9

Hitachi's golden eyes glared at the man standing before them with her sister at his feet. The smug grin was still plastered on his pale face. How badly she wanted to just rip that expression off his face with as much pain as humanly possible. Kirashi lay at his feet, glaring daggers up at the walking corpse. She defiantly was not pleased about this one bit. Though it meant having some fun kickin the shit out of this guy, what she really wanted was to get to the person who was behind it all.

"Are you looking for a death wish, old man? Cause if you are, I could happily grant you that wish," Hitachi ground out between her teeth.

The man chuckled again. "Oh, my dear. You can't kill me if I'm already dead."

"Then I'll send you back to hell where you belong!" Hitachi yelled as she drew her sword from its sheath. The sword glowed an ice blue color that lit the room with an eerie glow. Hitachi held the sword in her hands with her eyes closed. She meant to send this bastard into the depths of hell, and she was sure as hell gonna do it.

The man watched her as she did this, his grin never faltering. That worried Kirashi. Her sister was quite strong, and when someone could just stand there and watch her with a grin when they're about to get killed, that really worried her. Something wasn't right. And knowing Hitachi, she'd find out the hard way.

Julin and Maki both stepped away from her, knowing better not to get in her way. Last time that happened, Maki almost lost her head, and both of them preferred to keep their heads where they were at the moment.

Hitachi slowly opened her eyes and looked at the man with an icy stare. She channeled her energy into her sword, making the blade glow even brighter. Faster than the eyes could blink, Hitachi rushed at the man, sword raised, and then vanished. It was one of her special techniques. She would run very quickly and then jump upward, leaving an image that seemed to just disappear, giving her time to attack from behind.

She ran quickly, just as the image disappeared, and brought her sword down onto the man. What happened next surprised everyone, including Hitachi herself. The man had turned around and caught her sword between his hands, still grinning.

"H-how in the hell!?" Hitachi yelled. No one had EVER caught her attacks. NO ONE! Now suddenly this man, who has never seen her use her techniques, is suddenly able to stop one of them? Hell no!

The man laughed at the expression of pure confusion and anger on Hitachi's face. He shoved her sword away with ease before grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into the ground headfirst. Hitachi cried out in pain.

"Hitachi!!" the other three yelled. It's a surprise if Kirashi couldn't land an attack, but if Hitachi couldn't land one, they were in some serious trouble.

The man chuckled as he kept Hitachi pinned to the floor with his hand at her neck. Hitachi glared up at him. "H-how dare you! I'll…kill you for this!" she yelled as best she could. With his hand pinning her by the neck, it was hard to breath let alone talk.

The man only chuckled at this. "I know your techniques my dear. Your friend Yukio provided me with very good information on you three."

All four youkais' eyes widened at this. There was no possible way that Yukio could do this to them. Kirashi's eyes were wide with disbelief. Yukio couldn't have done that to them. Yukio had been Kirashi's lover for years. He was traveling with them when somehow they were separated. Yukio had gone missing during the fight between them and the youkai. That was the battle that had forced them to come to this inn in the first place and got them into this whole mess. Nevertheless, there was no way Yukio would betray them like this. Yes he was rough around the edges, but a traitor, never…

"Ew!! What is that!?" Gojyo yelled as he looked at the eight-legged creature.

"Looks like some sort of spider demon. That would explain all of the dead bodies," Hakkai replied. Though they had their share of spider demons, none of them looked like this before.

"I don't care what it is, but it's going to die," Sanzo said as he pulled out his gun. The spider demon was starting to annoy the hell out of him.

"Why would it want to eat youkai women? They don't look tasty," Goku said as he stood back up.

"How is it no matter what the situation is, you seem to always bring food into the mix?" Gojyo asked as he brought his shakujou staff to his hands.

"Well, I didn't get anything to eat," Goku replied as he picked up his Nyoi-Bo. "Come to think of it, the girls didn't get any food either."

"How about this. After we defeat this spider demon, we'll grab the girls and go get something to eat?" Hakkai suggested with his usual smile in place.

"Yay!!" Goku yelled before preparing to fight. He wanted to defeat this demon as soon as possible so he could fill his empty stomach. Sanzo sighed at Goku's actions before turning to the demon.

The spider watched the group with hungry eyes. She wanted to pick them apart one by one, but the little one had turned around too soon and yelled. That brought the other three over and made it more difficult to be able to kill them all without some type of injury. Guess she'd have to use her traps to capture these four. With her webs, that'd be no problem.

"Y-you're lying!" Kirashi yelled. "Yukio wouldn't do that to us!"

The man laughed even more. "Oh, but he would. For a hefty price, he gave you to us. He told us each of your techniques and how to stop them in case you ever tried to escape. He told us your weaknesses and how to use them against you. For instance, Hitachi's weakness is the safety of her friends. And dear Maki, I know you won't attack me with that fire of yours with your friends so close to me. It might kill them."

Hitachi glared up at him. He was really starting to annoy her, and he would pay for it. He would pay for it with his life. Maki also glared at the man, which was rare for her to even frown let alone glare. He was right in saying she wouldn't attack so long as he had Hitachi in his grasp. Though she could control fire with a simple thought, she wouldn't risk burning her friend.

The man's gaze then settled on Julin. "And your weakness, Julin, is your stomach. Without any type of food, you grow weaker."

"Hey! That's not true!!" Julin yelled. A small silence passed before the grumbling of Julin's stomach could be heard. Julin blinked before grinning sheepishly with a hand behind her head. "I'm really hungry right now."

"How in the hell can you be hungry at a time like this!?" Hitachi yelled, still pinned to the floor.

"I haven't eaten for a long time! And those guys didn't get us any food!" Julin replied.

"Let's just figure out what to do about this guy before we find Sanzo and them, then we'll all go out to eat. Cause I'm kinda hungry too," Maki reasoned.

"Fine, but you're buying. Now, will you guys start attacking already!?" Hitachi yelled, wanting to get out of the hold the man had her in.

"Right!" Julin yelled before she ran towards them. Julin's attack depended on Kirashi. Kirashi's flutes would create an image to which it would seem Julin had jumped up, directing the enemies gaze upward, and giving Julin the chance to attack him in the front.

Kirashi saw Julin's move and quickly pulled out of one her flutes, playing it. The notes created the image of Julin jumping up above the man, looking ready to attack. The real Julin raised her leg to attack and was surprised to see the man's gaze still locked on her and not the image. She cried out as the man took ahold of Hitachi and threw her at Julin, hard enough to send them both into the wall.

Kirashi took the chance to roll away from him and jump up. "My flutes don't effect him. Maki! Burn his ass!"

"You got it!" Maki yelled as she conturned up a set of flames in her hands. She quickly ran towards the man. No one knew much about Maki's attack only that she would disappear in flames and then attack from the shadows.

Maki continued to run towards the man before flames engulfed her from head to toe and then disappeared along with her. The man just stood there, that grin still plastered on his face. He then quickly turned, raising the sleeves of his kimono, and blocked the fire attacks directed at him. He then reached into one of the shadows and took Maki by the arm, throwing her at Kirashi. Both Kirashi and Mika were sent flying into the wall.

The man laughed. "You see! Yukio has told me everything he knew about you three! There's no way you can stop me now," he laughed.

"Wanna bet?" The man's laughter stopped as he looked at Hitachi. The other three youkai looked up at their friend. She was standing in front of Julin, who was looking up at her from the floor. Her head was bowed and eyes were shadowed. She held her sword at her side, which was now glowing a dark red, which they had rarely ever seen. Hitachi raised her head and looked at the man. "Yukio may have told you everything he knew, but we didn't tell him half of what we can do."

"What?" the man said. Yukio had told him nothing of when her sword would glow red. He told him that Hitachi's attacks depended on the brightness of the sword, but never the darkness of it.

Hitachi raised her weapon to eye level. "Now, you die!"

The man grinned and pulled out a sword of his own. "Try it if you like, but it won't make a difference since I'm already dead!"

Kirashi, Maki, and Julin all watched as both Hitachi and the man rushed towards each other, swords raised and ready to kill. They met in the center of the room before crimson blood was spilled on the hard wood floor and one body fell.

Sanzo and the others were having similar problems. Each time any of them attacked, the large spider would dodge, seeming to move in thin air when in all actuality she was moving on her spider's web. The thread of the web was just as thin as the thread that had fallen on Goku's shoulder. It was hard to see, and you could barely feel it. This made it quite difficult to avoid while fighting.

The spider avoided another one of Sanzo's bullets. Everything was going according to plan. While they thought she was only dodging attacks, they were falling right into her trap. For every move they made, was one more move towards their death. It wouldn't be long now before they were completely in her grasp. They would fall pray to their own foolishness. Their weapons will soon be of no use to them anymore, and their bones will be added to her collection while her children feed on the town. So far, three of them were ready for the taking, just one more left to go.

Hakkai found that it was getting harder to move. It was almost as though something were holding his movements back. Gojyo and Goku seemed to be having similar problems. Their movements were slowed, and they looked like they were having a hard time even walking. Sanzo even seemed to be slowing down. Something wasn't right. Hakkai looked around to see if he could find out why it was becoming so hard to move. A hint of silver caught his eyes, and he knew what was going on. All around them, connected to their arms, legs, and bodies was the thread. It was trying to hold them in place, but the strands were loose. As though they were allowing them to move around. But why?

It was then that he noticed it. Sanzo could still move. This whole thing was a trap. She was waiting till they all had enough threads on them before she tightened the silver strands, capturing them all.

"Sanzo! It's a trap!" Hakkai yelled.

Sanzo glanced at him and took another shot at the damned spider, who yet again moved out of the line of fire. Trap? All she's doing is dodging. How can it be a trap. His question was soon answered as he moved his hand to shoot again and found that he cold hardly move his arm.

"What the…?" Sanzo said as he looked at his arm.

The spider demon laughed. "Now, you're mine!" All four guys were lifted into the air, unable to move as their weapons were wrenched away and thrown to the ground.

"What the hell!?" Gojyo yelled as he struggled against the web.

"It's a spider's web. She was planning this from the start," Hakkai replied as he tried to angle his hands to cut the threads, with little success.

The spider laughed again. "You've all fallen into my trap. Now I can feast upon your flesh," she said as she made her way towards Goku. She opened her mouth, ready to devour the struggling boy.

"Goku!" Hakkai yelled. There was nothing they could do so long as they were held tight in the sticky threads.

The spider stopped short as the door to the room opened with the flames roaring brightly behind a figure. "Who dares interrupt my feeding!?" The figure stepped forward, revealing themselves as the innkeeper, the grin still plastered on his pale face. "Ah, finally. It would seem that you've taken care of the youkai women. Good," the spider demon said. The guys' eyes widened at this. The girls? Dead?

DUN DUN DUN!!! Sorry! Just had to leave you with another cliff hangar!! Did the girls really die? Review and you'll find out!!


	11. Chapter 10

I'm so happy I've gotten so many reviews!! I didn't think I'd get so many!! And no real flames yet!! –knock on wood- I'm so happy about it!! I'd get up and jump but I'm in the middle of the library right now so that's not a good idea. ; Time to give thanks to the reviewers!!

Anime Alex36- Thanks! I hope you like the rest of the story!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed- Thanks, and welcome to the reviewing group! Hope you'll stay awhile!

Devil-Angel- Hehe, sorry for the cliffy. A couple of your questions will be answered in this chapter hopefully.

C.T. Saiyukily Twisted- Actually, I'm only in high school. I take college classes here at the school through what we call distance learning. It's a program where the teacher is at the college while we're in our school and teaches from there using cameras and things. We can see her and she can see us. That's how I'm taking the college classes. I passed them with a C at least!! So I'm happy!! Yeah, there wouldn't be much of a story, but then again there would be. It could be like they did die, and then the guys would go through guilt trips when someone comes and reminds them that they died and all. Hopefully this chapter will answer your question about the innkeeper!!

Steven- Thanks hun. Now you can stop bugging me about putting up the next chapter!!

Wow, that took a lot of typing. I still need yalls opinion!! Sequel, series, or leave it at that? You gotta let me know soon so I can start on the ending to this one and maybe on the next part!! Now, on to the chapter!!

Chapter 10

The guys' blood ran cold as they heard the words spill from the spider's mouth. How could they be dead? They had told them specifically not to leave the room. Though, even by just meeting them, they could tell that they wouldn't have listened anyway. They didn't seem like the type of people who would follow someone's orders or requests. How could they be dead? This severely pissed them off.

They did all of that work to help them and watched them be put through torture just to have them die anyway? Hell no. All four of them started to try their best to tear away from the sticky threads that bound them. They were going to kill this damn youkai if it was the last thing they did.

The spider turned back to her pray, who were starting to struggle again. It seemed the news of their dead friends had some effect on them. It made no difference to her. They'd soon be dead anyway, and their bodies would be fed to her eggs when they hatched. She'd feed upon the four dead girls after these four were dead.

As the demon turned towards Goku again, the innkeeper stood standing with the grin plastered on his pale face, two knifes impaled deeply into his back. A sword was raised, gleaming with the light from the flames. If this demon thought that she was going to get away with her plan, she had another thing coming.

"Now, time to feast on my prey," the spider said as she went to devour Goku headfirst. The others watched in horror as the spider brought her mouth down onto Goku. They were going to loose their friend. The others turned away, expecting to hear the crunch of Goku's skull and the tear of his flesh. But all they heard was the spider's cry of pain. Along the back of the spider was a long and deep gash that was pouring out green liquid. The spider quickly turned to the innkeeper. "Who dares to strike me!?"

The innkeepers body was dropped to the ground, lifeless as it should be. Hitach's sword gleamed in her hand, the glowing blue fading from her attack on the demon. "Opps. I'm sorry. It slipped," Hitachi said, with no amusement in her voice. Behind her stood the other three youkai women, all unharmed and in one piece.

"You're alive!" Goku yelled.

"Of coarse, was there any doubt?" Julin replied as she bounced on her heals. This was going to be exciting for her. "By the way, we're going out to eat after this."

"Yeah!" Goku yelled.

"Maki, get them down. We'll handle this bitch," Hitachi said, her eyes never leaving the spider demon.

"Right!" Maki said as she made her way towards the guys. She'd have to burn the threads to get them down.

This pissed the demon off. No one was going to take her prey. No one! She'll have to kill them all, starting with the sword chaneller. Though it wasn't going to be easy, she had to dispose of these four annoying youkai.

"Hm…now let's see. How to do this?" Maki said as she stood on her hip, crossing her arms with a thoughtful look at the guys.

"Will you just get us down!?" Sanzo yelled, annoyed as hell for being suspended in the air with no way of knowing how the hell to get down.

Maki grinned at this, which worried the guys a bit. "Okey dokey!!" she said as she contoured up two flames, one in each of her hands. Before she could set flames to the silver threads, she was knocked aside by one of the hairy legs of the spider. With its eight eyes, it was hard to do anything without her knowing, and there was no way she would let her prey escape.

"Mika!" Hakkai yelled. This was so not good.

Mika sat up rubbing her head. "Ow. Ok spider lady! You're gonna get it now!" she yelled as she curled her hands into tight fists, which were instantly engulfed in flames.

"Kirashi! Julin!" Hitachi yelled. They needed to distract the demon long enough for Mika to get the guys down.

"Right!" Kirashi yelled as she pulled out one of her many flutes.

She began to play a slow, soft song, concentrating mostly on her illusion. Julin began to sing, her voice was like a mist that slowly spread across the room and joined together with Kirashi's flute. Their song seemed to drift towards the spider and surround the demon, capturing it into the illusion.

The spider was not in the chamber anymore. She found herself in a dark place, no longer with her prey or her nest of eggs. She could faintly hear the sound of someone singing with the tune of some instrument, but she couldn't turn away from it. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't turn away from the song or shake herself from the illusion. She found herself back home again. Back where it was dark at night and plenty of food to prey upon. The sun was warm during the day while the nights were nice and cool. She couldn't help but feel relaxed here. She very quietly moved towards one of the shaded and high trees and crawled up into it to begin to make a nest for herself.

The guys watched in confusion as the spider demon crawled up one of the columns in the room and began to make a nest. Why in the hell would she be doing that at a time like this?

"Good job, you two. Keep it up. Make sure she stays that way while we get them down," Hitachi said as Julin and Kirashi kept up the illusion on the spider. It was their specialty to create an illusion based upon the person's emotions and desires. For the spider, it was her desire to be home again. With that desire, Kirashi played her flutes to create the illusion that she was home while Julin's singing slowly drove her to insanity.

Maki slowly stood back up, her fists still blazing from anger. Though a lot of the time she was very polite and kind, if you pissed her off be ready to be burned. Hitachi made her way over to the guys, who were still suspending in the air and were looking either very annoyed, very confused, or…very hungry. She quickly made due with the threads, letting them either land on their feet or uncharacteristically on their heads.

"Quite a predicament you four got yourselves into," Hitachi said.

"So you have a death wish?" Sanzo replied. He was not in the mood for jokes.

"Whatever. You four take care of the spider while Julin and Kirashi are keeping it busy," Hitachi said as she turned around and started to walk deeper into the dark room.

"And where are you going?" Gojyo asked. The spider was on the other side of the room, so why was she heading in the opposite direction?

"Maki and I are going to find out exactly why she kept us alive. There has to be something in here that she was protecting. Else she would've attacked the town by now, and we're going to find out what it is," she replied as Maki and her walked further into the darkness, their only lights being that of Hitachi's sword and Maki's burning fists.

"Man, she reminds me of Sanzo," Goku said as she watched their receding backs. Sanzo warningly loaded his gun, a vein throbbing on his temple.

"Now, now, let's not be fighting right now. I'm not sure how long Kirashi and Julin can hold the spider in their illusion. We'd best dispose of it before things turn ugly," Hakkai reasoned, his smile back in its place again.

"Yeah, I'm ready for some serious ass kickin," Gojyo said as he retrieved his shakujou staff.

"Yeah!" Goku yelled as he held onto his Nyoi-Bo.

"Let's kill this damn thing," Sanzo said as he cocked his gun. All four men quickly jumped up and attacked the illusion caught spider.

Maki and Hitachi both looked back as the cry of the dying youkai rang out through the darkness. The guys must've done their job. Hitachi continued down into the darkness, Maki close at her heals. There has to be something down here. Something that youkai spider was protecting.

"EW!!" Maki screamed. Hitachi turned around to see her friend dancing around shaking her hand as though to rid herself of something. "It's nasty! Something gooey landed on my hand!"

Hitachi blinked a bit. Maybe that's why they couldn't find anything. They were looking on the ground when what they wanted to find was on the ceiling.

"Maki, make a long tower of fire so we can see what's up there," Hitachi said.

Maki blinked but did as she was told. She concentrated her anger and feelings into her powers, creating a long tower of burning flames that reached high into the room, sending its light in every direction. What it revealed made both girls sick. There, hanging from the ceiling everywhere, were small bundles that were dripping with a green, slimy substance.

"EW!! What are those!?" Maki yelled. Those were about the most disgusting things she'd ever seen.

"Those things are the spawn of that spider. That is disgusting," Hitachi replied. She then turned to Maki and pointed to the eggs. "Charcoal their asses." She then started to head back, trusting Maki to do the job well.

"You got it!" Maki said as he began spread the fire in the tower to catch fire to the eggs. They burned quickly because of the green slime. Each egg fell from its location and splattered on the ground, become dead unborn spiders. Maki made sure to get each and every one of the disgusting things. After making a quick check of her work, she quickly turned and ran after her friend.

Ok, I know that chapter really sucked, but I am absolutely no good at writing battle scenes. I'll try to get better at it, but who knows really? Anyway, IMPORTANT!!! I need to have yalls opinion now. The next chapter will most likely be the LAST CHAPTER!! So yall need to tell me: Sequel, series, or leave it at that? Your choice will decide the ending to this one and I can't start it unless yall tell me what it is you want. So review and tell me!!


	12. Chapter 11

Ok, this is most likely gonna be the last chapter to this story, but not the last part!! It seems that the decision of it being a series has kinda won. I had one or two say they wanted a series in the reviews, and I had a few friends nag at me to make it a series. So a series it will be. I'm surprised I'm actually finishing a story without discontinuing it. Interesting. Well, time to thank my faithful reviewers!!

C.T. Saiyukily Twisted- Yeah, I notice that halfway through the chapter I kept misspelling the names. Sorry!! I'll correct it though!! Yeah, the spiders' deaths were kinda bad, but it was either kill them or have the entire town and then some being killed. And I get what you're sayin and the story will continue in a series.

Devil-Angel- Don't worry!! The story is now going to be a series!!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed- I know how you feel. My internet is an ass too, but my computer is worse. I swear, it's about ready to keel over and die. And the story will continue in a series!!!

Ok, now it's time for the last chapter!! Hope yall like it!!

Chapter 11

The sun was shinning brightly again as it had the day before. The people of the town went about their business, never knowing what actually went on during the long night. What none of them expected was for the inn to be closed down. It had gone out of business, which was a surprise to say the least, but stranger things had happened to them in the past. So the people kept on living and never really looked into the real reason why the inn was closed.

Though the inn was closed, it was not empty. Inside slept the sanzo gang, catching up on the sleep they missed the night before. The curtains had been drawn in each room to keep out the waking rays of the sun. Everything was quiet and warm, letting their tired bodies rest in the comfortable beds. Jeep had gone back to his dragon like form and lay sleeping, curled next to Hakkai's head on the soft pillow.

After the fight, Hitachi and the girls had cooked a huge meal for all of them. The girls hadn't eaten in a while and were all pretty hungry. They all found that Julin had about as big an appetite as Goku. She and Goku had eaten most of what was on the table, but Hitachi has expected something like that to happen and had made extra for everyone else.

After they had eaten, everyone had gone to bed to catch up on their sleep. Everything was now quiet. Everything, except the kitchen that is. The girls had gone to bed, but had gotten back up after they had enough sleep. They thought it would be a good idea to make some food again for when everyone had gotten up. Hitachi was busy at the stove cooking some seasoned sausage links while Maki was cutting some vegetables up. Maki always tried her best to add in some of the daily needs for them. Julin was busy cracking eggs and cooking them on the stove next to Hitachi. Kirashi had begun to set out plates and bowls on the tables, making sure to leave enough for everyone. They all were working together to make all this while making sure to keep as quiet as they could.

But though they kept quiet, they were heard by one, sound sensitive person. Hakuryu raised his head as he heard to movements of them in the kitchen. The very faint scent of the food that was being prepared. He very quietly yawned and stretched before going out of Hakkai's room and down the hall. He used the scent of the food to guide him to the kitchen where he found all four girls cooking breakfast.

Hitachi moved the cooked links onto the plate beside her and put a few more onto the pan. She blinked as she felt something land on her shoulder. She looked over at Hakuryu, who was looking down at the food she was cooking. Hitachi blinked before taking one of the finished links and tearing a piece off before holding it up to Hakuryu. Hakuryu examined the offered food before taking the piece and feasting on it. (Does Hakuryu eat regular food? Hm…) Hitachi smiled faintly before taking another one of the links and taking a bite out of it.

Hakkai yawned and rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his bed, the sheets falling down about his waist. He looked around the room in a slight daze from sleep. He was instantly awake though when he didn't see his usual companion in the room. "Hakuryu?" The small dragon-like creature was nowhere to be seen. Hakkai quickly got up and threw on his clothes before heading down the hall. He had no idea where Hakuryu had gone off to and that made him worry a bit, especially with all that had happened last night.

Hakuryu looked up from what he was eating when he heard the sound of Hakkai's voice coming down the hall. He quickly finished off what was he before grabbing the rest of the sausage link and flew out of the kitchen. Hitachi blinked. "Slippery little sucker ain't he."

Hakuryu flew down the hall with the sausage link between his claws. He finally found Hakkai and landed on his shoulders. Hakkai let out a sigh of relief. "Don't worry me like that, Hakuryu."

"Cheep," Hakuryu replied before feasting on the sausage link. Hakkai blinked at this. Where did he get a piece of sausage? And a cooked piece no less. Hakkai walked down the hall with Hakuryu on his shoulders, letting the creature feed on the sausage. He stepped into the kitchen as the smell of cooking could be sensed.

Maki looked up from adding the chopped vegetables into the omelet Julin was starting to cook in the pan. "Ah, you're awake. Go sit down, and we'll bring out the tea," Maki said as she ushered him out towards the tables. Hakkai blinked but did as he was told, sitting down at one of the places that were set. A few moments later, Maki brought out a pot of tea and poured him a glass before setting it on the table.

"Thank you. Shouldn't you four still be in bed?" Hakkai asked as he sipped the offered tea, which had a faint taste of mint in it.

"We're usually up at dawn when we travel. I guess even though we were under control, our minds never seemed to loose that habit," Maki said with a smile. She seemed to be back to herself again, unlike last night when she was pissed.

"Maki! Get back in here before Julin burns these eggs!" Hitachi yelled from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Maki replied as she ran back into the kitchen.

Hakkai chuckled and sipped his tea again. It didn't take long before Sanzo walked in and sat down. Maki noticed this and ran over quickly. She picked up the pot of tea before Sanzo could and poured a glass for him.

Sanzo frowned slightly, "Thanks."

Maki grinned as she set the pot down again. "You're welcome," she said before speeding back into the kitchen.

Sanzo looked at Hakkai, who chuckled, before picking up his cup and sipping the tea. After a while, Gojyo joined them and got the same treatment from Maki. He was about as confused as everyone else. It didn't take too long before the girls brought out bowls and plates of food. Eggs, omelets, sausage links, toast, and two pitchers of milk were brought out and set on the table before all four of the girls sat down. Hakuryu had finished the sausage link and lay contently on Hakkai's lap.

"Well, everyone's here except Goku," Julin said as she noticed the missing companion.

"Oh, don't worry. Once he smells the food he'll come running," Gojyo said as he lit a cigarette.

Indeed he did. After they had begun to eat, Goku had come running into the room yelling "FOOD!"

As they all ate, Hakuryu had gone back over to Hitachi, who again gave him a piece of her sausage. All four girls sat around Hitachi, petting Hakuryu and giving him a lot of attention. Hakuryu was starting to like all the attention and the offered food.

"He's so cute! I love him," Maki said as she rubbed under Hakuryu's chin.

"He looks so cool. I've never seen anything like him," Kirashi said as she looked at the dragon-like creature.

"Here ya go," Julin said as she handed him another piece of food.

Hakuryu took the offered piece and began to feast upon it. "Cheep."

"Aw, he's so cute," Julin said as she gently petted him.

Hakkai chuckled, "Seems Hakuryu is getting spoiled."

"As if he isn't already spoiled," Sanzo stated as he sipped his tea again.

"So, where you girls off to now that you're free again?" Goku asked.

Julin blinked and thought a bit. "We're heading towards the West. We got some unfinished business to take care of," Kirashi said for her.

"Really? Why don't you come with us? We're heading West too," Goku replied.

"Goku, we don't need to be getting them involved in this," Sanzo said. He didn't need to have more luggage so slow them down. Though there was a voice in the back of his head telling him they wouldn't slow him down. He pushed the voice aside, not needing anything else that'll confuse him.

"Oh come on, Sanzo! They could really help us out!" Goku argued. These girls could help them with their quest to stop the resurrection. They seemed to be able to fight pretty well and didn't seem like they were planning to turn on them any time soon, but they've learned that looks can be deceiving with them.

"Goku's right for once, Sanzo. Besides, we can't just leave them here if we're heading the same way," Gojyo said as he took another drag of his cigarette.

Sanzo sighed at this. They were right. They couldn't just leave them there, and they could help out, so long as they don't turn on them. "Fine, but we'll only take them as far as they need to, got that?" But somehow he doubted they'd be dropping them off any time soon. Somehow he knew they'd be taking them all the way.

"Yeah! We're takin them with us!" Goku yelled with one fist raised in the air.

All four girls blinked. When did they decide they were going to go? This was an odd situation, but interesting all the same.

"I say we do it!" Julin said as she jumped up a bit. "I think it sounds fun."

"Yeah, it sounds like a pretty cool idea," Kirashi agreed.

"What do you say Hitachi? Shall we go?" Maki asked as they looked to their leader.

Hitachi sipped her tea as she thought about it. It would be interesting to travel with someone besides them, and with someone who knew her pain of having to deal with idiots 24/7. "Alright, fine. We'll go, but only as far as we need to. I'd rather not be surrounded too long with more idiots."

"My thoughts exactly," Sanzo replied. It was going to be quite a show to have two stubborn people who think too much alike for their own good.

The rest of the girls cheered as the meal went on. Their journey finally had some direction. All four of the girls knew why Kirashi wanted to head West. She was one who believed in getting revenge with interest, and Yukio was no exception to her rule. Once they reach their destination, the blood of another youkai would be spilled in the night.

Ok, there it is!! The end of part one!! The next part of the series will be coming out soon!! I promise!! Thank you all for reviewing my story!! I promise I'll get the next part out ASAP!! So keep an eye out!! Laterz!!


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